AFI’s seventh Consumer Empowerment and Market Conduct Working Group (CEMC) meeting held on 11-14 March 2014 in Minsk, Belarus, and co-hosted by the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (NBRB), focused on the development of deliverables for the working group’s five subgroups: Responsible Lending, Transparency and Disclosures, Help and Redress, Institutional Framework and Supervision, and Financial Literacy and Education.

Participating members provided an update on each nations’ progress on consumer empowerment and market initiatives.

Deputy Trade Minister of Belarus Irina Narkevich delivered the welcome remarks at the event, and underscored her nation’s commitment to financial inclusion as well as noted that 21 years ago Belarus was the first country in the Soviet region to pass a consumer protection law. NBRB Deputy Chairman Sergei Dubkov reiterated the importance of increasing financial access to the excluded in Belarus, and highlighted his institution has set up a specific division to enhance financial inclusion: “This shows the serious commitment (on behalf) of NBRB.”

The Responsible Lending Subgroup deliberated on topics related to responsible lending approaches based on unique institutions, practices and credit products from regional perspectives and context – South America, Sub-Sahara Africa, and Asia – and will compile the progress from each region for the formulation of a good practice guideline notes on responsible lending for AFI member countries.

Members of the Transparency and Disclosures Subgroup developed a questionnaire on disclosure requirements regarding the costs of financial products and services. From the results, the subgroup will develop key facts statements sharing the experience of best practices.

The Help and Redress Subgroup undertook a survey ahead of the meeting on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms in AFI member countries, and identified a member country that will be used as a case study. The final case study report will be provided to members in September followed by an issuance of a policy note on the ideal features of ADR before the conclusion of 2014.

Institutional Framework and Supervision Subgroup members finalized its business conduct concept paper that provide the framework and supervision for business conduct.

And the Financial Literacy and Education Subgroup completed drafting a survey for AFI member countries that have implemented financial literacy and education strategies. Furthermore, it will develop a document members can use to make the case for financial literacy and education.

The World Bank gave a presentation on the “Global Survey on Consumer Protection and Financial Literacy: Regulatory Practices in 114 Economies”. The survey was conducted on financial regulators with the objective to review trends and benchmarking practices in financial consumer protection around the world to assist countries in policy reforms and to stimulate the debate on this topic. The research uncovered, among other things, that most countries have a legal framework in place, and a number of countries with a legal framework for CPFL increased between 2010 and 2013. Many countries with existing laws also passed amendment or issued new regulations. Legal framework for CPFL is diffused, with approximately 80 percent of economies applying a combination of consumer protection laws and financial legislation. Mirroring diffused legal framework, in most countries multiple regulatory and supervisory agencies have a responsibility for financial consumer protection. Institutional framework is determined by existing bank supervision and overall consumer protection institutional framework. Responsible agencies broadened the range of compliance monitoring tools between 2010 and 2013, especially in terms of collecting statistics on the number of complaints, and most economies have a third party dispute resolution mechanism in place.

CGAP also presented on recent international developments in consumer protection and market conduct, and highlighted new trends, including applying standards of fair treatment and suitability, and an effort to develop principles of responsible digital finance.

Realizing the importance the empowerment and protection of financial consumers has in securing access to financial services and improving its quality, the AFI Network anticipates thoroughly discussing new developments on consumer empowerment and market conduct progress at the 2014 Global Policy Forum (GPF) set to be held 9-11th September in Port of Spain, Trinidad.